broken mends best
by Chiwibel
Summary: There's no point redeeming someone that's been good all along, no matter how much leather Reaper wears. [Glassy Sky part 2]
1. xanatos

A series of **really short drabbles** where Gabriel slowly realizes he's still Gabriel and comes to accept it. Kind of. Sometimes from other people's point of view. This follows the headcanon that Reaper is a mess (trademark) and knows what Sombra is doing. What he doesn't know is what in the world is he going to do with himself.

Consider the previous entry in the overall series (called **Glassy Sky** ) to be a prologue of sorts (so yes, there will be r76 because i love the sad dads)

The series as a whole is a better read at **AO3** but fanfiction dot net will not let me link so follow the links in my profile if you wish to do so. I'm _Chiwibel_ there too. At _T u mblr_ I'm _serah-pounce-a-bell_.

Apologies for my English.

…

A _continuation_ to

 **To reap into the abyss**

 **[Glassy Sky part 1]**

…

 **Broken mends better**

 **[Glassy Sky part 2]**

…

Sombra had been typing for days after the Volskaya mission. There was much to do and little time for anything else, especially when another job with the leather-clad duo appeared on her orders from Talon the previous night.

Her so called bosses were… displeased with the results (she wasn't). So much that Sombra wouldn't risk another play this Xanatos Speed Chess she had going on soon. Play nice for a while and then run away with everything while the higher ups asked themselves _where did they go wrong, where_. The usual outcome.

"Here".

Reaper himself materialized behind her, throwing a bunch of purple fabric over Sombra when she ignored him.

A purple coat. Her purple coat. One of the sleeves had gotten a tear after a miscalculated jump. It wasn't there anymore and it looked like it had never been there at all. The piece of clothing actually looked better than ever.

"Fixed it", Sombra mumbled, " _¿por qué?_ "

Even though the man wore his bone white owl mask, Sombra swore she could feel him smiling behind it.

"Gotta look presentable for our dear _amiga_ Volskaya".


	2. parent in distress

At some point, ripping _WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE_ posters off walls became a hobby of sorts, with how much Reaper had been doing so lately.

Out of frustration, he told himself. The lie heavy upon his shoulders because he felt nothing and nothing at all whenever Jesse McCree's portrait looked back at him from those old pieces of paper, screaming to be shredded.

No, no. The rage was all Reyes. Had to be. Reaper hadn't even met the cowboy for crying out loud. If luck was on their side, he never would.

For the cowboy's sake, of course. Of course.

With a sigh, he decided that Route 66 needed one last visit from him.


	3. sleep cute

They would not land for another four or five hours if the storm continued.

Widowmaker was fine with it, if only because she couldn't _not_ be fine with it or anything else for that matter. Her almost permanent apathy had increased along the latest failures under her name. She worked best alone, they all knew it and yet someone kept sending her with the two imbeciles to the impending doom that was teamwork.

Being punched by a child, a _child_ , was only the start of her problems.

Tiredly, she laid back on her seat and longed for her rifle, kept in the back with most of their weapons. If only she could carry hers _in_ her like the Reaper wore his shotguns, if only, maybe she'd feel complete then.

The silence was nice, or it would be if it wasn't for her teammates barking insults at each other in a language similar to hers.

" _Tais-toi_ ", she demanded.

Sombra laughed and, in two long strides, appeared in front of her with her index finger extended to her face.

" _Déjala_ ", Reaper said, stopping the younger woman. His Spanish flowed out of his mouth much so naturally that Amélie remembered he used to sing, back when Gérard referred to him as Gabriel and asked to play a song for them while she wore a long white dress and not the pink madness that _They_ made her use daily. Widowmaker trembled. A knowing look passed between Reaper and Sombra, making her feel uneasy. Those two were spending uncomfortable amounts of time together as of late.

Sombra pouted and fell on the chair beside Widowmaker with a thud. With a gesture of her hand, she extended a holo-screen in front of them both.

" _Mira, mira"_ , she said excitedly, "Vishkar has been _naughty_ lately".

Widowmaker was too tired to care. Her silence allowed Sombra to keep talking about whatever techno jabber interested the hacker until she fell asleep on her cold shoulder. Widowmaker did not push her away, adjusting her body slighty to allow for a more comfortable position.

The warm contact and the deep rumbling of the aircraft were an odd combination for a lullaby but they had been good enough, apparently, because when she opened her eyes ( _when had she closed them_ ), Sombra was still sleeping and their bodies covered under a black longcoat.

 _Ah, Gabriel's hair grows in curls._

It was cute.


	4. i know you know i know

Sombra giggled.

"So", she started, "I know she knows you know".

What.

"What".

They were alone in Sombra's electronic jungle that she dared to call quarters, by her request. Talon had been doing movements not even they were supposed to know. So of course they knew. Ever since starting their wrongly called alliance, Reaper's life was quickly turning into a game of chess.

A boring game of chess narrated in the radio.

Gabriel was terrifyingly good a chess but, funnily enough, Sombra was not. Bored her to death, she said. In the other hand, Jesse learned to be good; he noted whenever he dared to remember the kid and himself. Gabriel made sure the ingrate achieved enough to make them both proud.

" _No me mires así_ , I'm not the one suddenly doing weird shit like being friendly or shredding paper like a Saturday morning _supervillano_ wannabe. You used to be more of a Friday night adult programming sitcom arch-nemesis".

There was no point discussing with her.

"You _know_ what they say: go big or go home".

Sombra giggled.


	5. forgot the call

Gabriel memories were clearer lately.

Reaper, made of nanites and pure hate, could not find it in himself to dread said fact but to accept it as it was. It made sense, in a way. The way Sombra called him _pendejo_ across any room at any given time just like an angry McCree would scream at Reyes, no matter if Jack could hear him or not. The way the hacker and the gunslinger had both been too young and too old.

Back when Gabriel had been Gabriel ( _Gabe, jefe, my friend, pops, boss, dear_ ) instead of Reaper (or _Commander_ , which had hurt more once upon a time), he'd managed to catch one 'hopeless case' before there was no turning back. To be honest, Jesse McCree could have filled his heart with pride if Reaper had a heart at all.

(He had one, but Jack took it away and Gabriel would not ask for it, he couldn't).

(There was pride for Strike Commander John Morrison in it too, behind all the heartbreak and betrayal. Behind a love that no one reciprocated because people had forgotten Reyes long before Gabriel himself).

(Really, he'd been without anything to lose for most of his life – and death).

An yet Reaper wondered, watching Sombra mess with Widowmaker's visor and laugh, if there was still time.

There'd better be.


	6. not here to make friends

_Aleksandra Zaryanova_ said the report, and Sombra showed them a picture of the ex-Olympian. The woman Volskaya had sent for her newest _friend_. Such things could make one wonder what was the point of having enemies at all.

(The idea of friendship rested heavy on what was left of Amélie's soul, because she would never have the right to enjoy it again).

Take care of it, _araña_ , will you?

"Of course", Widowmaker answered.

Of course.

 _Of course_ things did not go according to the plan, nor to any plan. The permanent downside of teamwork.

"When you said 'fuck Russia' this morning", Reaper started, a laugh crawling its way out of his voice, "I did not expect you to be so... literal".

Still, the man had come back to get her out of the complete disaster she had gotten herself in, after a long a tiring mission that would figure as a success on their records, for now. There would still be a lot of explaining to do, if only to stop Sombra's terrible horrible nefarious jokes on her ears, and Widowmaker hated that now she had every reason in the world to put herself in the same shameful place she had grouped Reaper and Sombra in her mind.

Well, it was nice to belong somewhere at least.

(Amélie had forgotten how it felt to be wrong, it was better than expected).


	7. about the mole in charge

Sombra had been on her own for the longest time, even with Los Muertos (especially with Los Muertos) her philosophy had been always along the lines of 'every man for himself'.

So it surprised no one (only because there was no one to be surprised besides herself and nothing could surprise anymore, not really) when she started including Dumb and Dumber in her future personal plans, because the top of the world seemed like a lonely place and she see the use of someone watching her back. And sides, and front. That's how thing had been working out with Reaper.

With Reaper and his annoying tendency to growl whenever she forgot to eat or sleep. Or trying to tidy up the mess of cables she worked over. Or sing when taking care of his shotguns (something that baffled her, because that was completely unnecessary, completely impractical, completely human and mundane). He was only missing a _chancla_ and a _pañoleta_ on his head.

But what truly perplexed her was Widowmaker's latest penchant for sleeping close (too close) to any of them for a great part of the day. Her long black hair got on Sombra's face and her skin was as cold as ice. She let it all happen, trying to push away memories of a sister she had deleted a long ago.

Widowmaker snored, an almost unnoticeable sound, at her side while clutching her rifle. The visor long forgotten and wearing a black hoodie too many sizes bigger on her.

"Didn't know Missus _Araña_ liked the Lakers", Sombra said.

"She doesn't".

Reaper, forming from thin air, crossed his arms over the back of Sombra's chair to support them and to peek at all of her screens. There was no stopping him from doing that either, even if they _hadn't_ talked about Sombra's shady business behind Talon's back yet. They would, eventually she guessed, whenever her not-so-secret secrets affecter another mission.

In the meantime, the silence was a welcomed confidant and evasion the best approach they had.

" _Ha dormido mucho últimamente_ ", Sombra noted.

"Reconditioning's gotten worse. She comes out weaker each time".

"So what? We let them?"

"Since when do _you_ care?"

 _I don't_ she should have said, because it would have been the truth once. Not anymore, because she _did_.

"Where did you even get the ugly thing?", she asked instead, motioning to the hoodie.

"Had an old safehouse at Route 66, picked up some things on my way out after my last visit".

"Never told me what you were doing there".

Reaper tapped the chair with the tip of his gloves before answering, "No, _no lo hice_ ".


	8. talking to themself

" _My name is… Your nam–"_

Reaper paused the recording. On the screen he could see himself talking directly to a camera, alone and without his mask. He could see Reyes' damaged face, the grey splotches all over his skin and the greying hair around the temples. He could see his own completely white eyes, no pupil, no iris, obscured by pain and loss.

 **play**

"Our _name is Gabriel Reyes_ ".

No.

Maybe back then but–

" _Our name_ is _Gabriel Reyes, Commander of Overwatch during the first Omnic Crisis, Commander of Blackwatch after the first Omnic Crisis and_ ", the Reyes in the recording coughed, " _a Talon mercenary during the start of the second one, apparently_ ".

 **pause**

Why then. Why then would he, Reaper, consider working against them? Why would he go out of his way to help those that had turned Reyes into this?

 **play**

" _You might not remember, hell, I can't even recall my full name sometimes, but we had –have a plan. You know… We know what must be done and we are doing it, right? Right. Listen,_ mierda _, listen to yourself because sure as hell no one else is going to… We are_ not _looking for revenge. We never were. We know this, we feel this_ ".

"But we need to make them believe we are", finished Reaper at the same time of the recording.

It wasn't his first time listening to himself. He couldn't breathe, no need for it, but he wished he could just to feel himself be out of air.

When had he done it?

" _Jack is alive. So is Ana. They took our charade without second thoughts, just like the rest of them and it hurts more than all_ she _did to us._ Ziegler _. But they are alive and we must keep it that way because we want to. It…_ They are _the reason we've done all of this._ Someone has to do something _but for that to happen someone has to make them do something. Talon is just the start but is a good start for us, and while this 'new Overwatch'…_ ", Reyes spat the words with revulsion and regret, _"… deals with them, we go deeper. Even if it kills us_ ".

Especially if it killed them. He. Me. Reyes. Reaper.

 _Gabriel_.

He **paused**. And pressed **play** again. Six seconds of video remained but he had stopped talking by that point, the pain unbearable and the smoke fighting to come out of his body. He remembered that. Gabriel remembered that.


	9. exposition break

"Sombra, how is she holding up?".

"Badly".

"..."

"Now what? We either let them brainwash her again or... _No sé, no sé_ ".

"You think you can manage on your own for a couple of months?".

"Worried about me?".

"Yes".

"..."

" _No tengo todo el día_ ".

" _Cálmate_. So, what's your plan?".

"I'm leaving and taking her with me".

"Thought you needed Talon on your side".

"Got you watching my back, don't need more".

" _Qué tierno_. You have three months and then I'm going with you".

"You shouldn't".

"But I will".


	10. another story for another time

Switzerland could have changed a lot or not at all and Reaper would have never noticed, not caring for the green scenery surrounding him. Besides, the memories of the HQ clouded his mind.

Kidnapping Widowmaker had been easy. A _(nother)_ mission gone wrong and two agents that never went back. He let Sombra deal with the MIA status Talon had put under their names. There were worst thing to deal with at the moment.

"Not much longer now", Zaryanova said, eyeing the Reaper in the rear-view mirror of the Volskaya issued hovercar. Reaper was hunched in the backseat, Widowmaker sleeping on his lap and covered by the black longcoat.

After little persuasion, Volskaya had unknowingly lent them transportation and backup in the form of the Russian soldier. By persuasion Sombra had meant more blackmail, more threats and more pictures that no one would have wanted released to the public eye ( _what the hell, Volskaya_ ), of course. And for whatever reason, Zaryanova had insisted on helping.

Whatever had happened between the sniper and the soldier must have been important. Still, Reyes had always known when to act on his curiosity and, much more important, when to _not_ and stay back.

He huddled close to the dark window. The city of Bern making itself visible the closer they drove to it. Even though he wanted to jump out of the window and fly away, Reaper was thankful there was no need to visit Zürich.

"Repeat the steps of the plan", Reaper ordered out of mere habit, a common practice from his commanding years to keep his _ingrates_ in line. Zaryanova, coming from a military background, did not seem perturbed by his attitude...

"We go, you hide, and I throw the woman at them, ask for help, you keep hiding like a _mudak_ , maybe even rush _B_ at some point".

… Which did not mean she would be taking him seriously either.


	11. came back wrong

The comm on Reaper's ear had been on all the time.

Sombra heard when Zaryanova took Amélie to Ziegler's clinic and when Reaper chose to vanish away and sneak into the ventilation system to reach the good doctor's office.

"It's been a while".

Ziegler had the good grace to avoid screaming, or maybe she'd been too scared to react at all.

"You owe me".

"... _Mein Gott_. Wh-what happened to you?"

" _You_ happened. You and your God's complex, doctor. And now Death's come to reclaim its price".

"I can fix this".

"No. Nobody can. It's too late for that".

"It's never-!"

"Yes it is! For me, it is!"

"Reyes…"

Sombra thought she'd hear Reaper snapping at the mention of his name. He didn't ( _she_ did).

(To realize _they_ used to have a life before and that all she could ever be was a mantle, a mask with no face underneath).

"… But it's not late for her".

"I… can't".

"Yes you can. You've ignored the recall for a reason, no?"

"You know about it?"

" _I'm_ the reason it happened, which means that _you're_ the reason all of this happened. You owe me".

"I saved you!"

"Is _this_ salvation to you!?"

Sombra contained her words.

(She felt bad, because she was glad she met him. She was glad she met them both).

"… I'll do what I can".

"Two months. Or else…"

Reaper left the same way he came, looking back at Amélie's sleeping form before disappearing into thin air.

(There were people looking for the good doctor too. Sombra made sure to keep them away, as the _thank you_ she would never be able to say).


	12. here we go again

Overwatch's new _modus operandi_ was much more similar to Blackwatch's than that of the original organization. The UN would scream if they saw them like that, especially with a monkey (he was a gorilla and Gabriel knew, he was a scientist above all things and Gabriel knew) at the top.

Of course, any ingenious optimist needed a petulant skeptic behind to cover their tracks. Overwatch was now an illegal group whose existence could not be made public (yet), just like Blackwatch's should have never been.

So Reyes just knew that Jesse McCree had answered the recall. The damn manchild posing as a cowboy ran _back_ to _them_. No one else could make an operation that big work besides Reyes himself because he had written the damn book (and made McCree finish it).

He felt alone. Ana once said, when she'd been _publicly_ alive, that she feared the time when Fareeha needed her no more because a child can go on without their parents but a parent needs a child to _be_. Gabriel finally understood.

Disgusting.

What was even more disgusting was how dirty the red serape was in contrast with the clean and shiny the revolver in front of him.

Gabriel smiled behind his mask, finding McCree during an op had been easy. Mostly because the (not so) young man wanted to be found. Maybe. Possibly. Gabriel would have liked to believe so.

"It's true then", McCree said. There was no one else to see or hear them in the dark of a forgotten alley in Colorado. "And here I thought Morrison's old age was getting to him".

"And it is", Reyes added.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you...", McCree tried to start. He lowered his gun and wiped tears that hadn't gone out in years. "Why didn't you come back with them?"

"I _did_ die". _Mijo_ , Reyes almost added. "I died and you all left me behind".

"You asked me to!", McCree snapped, walking in long strides until coming face to face with the man he would still follow into hell. "You told me to run from Overwatch before it was too goddamn late!"

"And you're alive because of that! If not you could have ended up like me. Dead and alone". A lie. Because Gabriel Reyes wasn't neither dead nor alone. He had been completely alone, after mourning Ana, pushing Jesse away and whatever had happened with Jack. But not anymore.

McCree said nothing, just looked at him, through him, while blowing smoke into his face. He took the cigar out of his mouth and pressed it over Reaper's coat. Reyes kept completely still, intrigued.

When Jesse spoke, Gabriel felt the need to hit him across his face and erase that confident smile that had come out of nowhere.

"So, what's the plan now boss?"

"No". _No._

"You ain't kicking me away this time, y'know. I've done my job back there and I'm not going to be missed much now. Miss Amari's all over lil' Pharah and I can't stand to be in the same room with your old your ball and chain. Never could".

"You went back to them in the first place".

"Well, it was that or running all over the world from your guys".

"Never my _'guys'_ ".

"I know. But really, Gabriel Reyes? The man that stopped and Omnic Crisis? Working with, whatstheirname... Chicken foot?"

"Talon". _Dame paciencia porque si me das fuerza_...

"Really?"

"Not my idea".

"It shows. So, what's the deal?"

Gabriel Reyes was really entertaining the idea of really hitting Jesse McCree.

"I'll explain on the way. Try to keep up this time".


	13. extreme doormat

Being on the run with McCree made Reyes fall into old habits. When he mentioned it to Sombra a night before some recon mission around Buenos Aires, she told him said habits had never left him.

"Old age isn't making you soft, viejo", Sombra mentioned after another screaming match with Jesse over who got to eat the last fajita, "you were always soft. I mean, look how he ended up like".

"Hey! You ain't better".

" _¡Exactamente!_ My point is: Reyes? Destiny's doormat".

And there you had it: the default bad guys trying to take over the world. If someone asked, _and please don't_ , Amélie was his favorite child.

Really, _don't_.


	14. the good wife

She wore white.

Hair up, make up simple but elegant, standing proud and tall on high heels.

She, the doctor.

Not Amélie, never again.

Angela Ziegler smiled like she had someone to love and Amélie knew it was the case, as she had overheard enough calls to another woman many times a day.

There could have been more calls between Gérard and her. Could, but wouldn't.

At least Reyes hadn't left without hiding an earpiece under the mattress, at arms reach. And Aleksandra _just Zarya it's fine_ insisted on checking up on her personally two times a week. Where she got the time to do so, Amélie did not want to care.

"How are you feeling today?"

No names.

Ziegler spoke to a woman that had _killed_ her name.

Amélie understood. "I don't. Feel, that is".

"Your vitals show you're getting better". Better meaning normal. Human. Alive. How terrible for the nightmare that roamed the world alongside death and shadows. "Change can be... scary-"

" _I_ am 'scary'".

"And dangerous-"

" _I_ am 'dangerous'".

"But it's for your own good".

Amélie understood. Or maybe she did not. But she would endure. If she did not want to be there, only a word to Sombra would have been enough for the woman to call Reyes, and for Gabriel to storm into the clinic just to get her out.

That, she knew.


	15. mom the veteran

The youngest Amari, Fareeha, was furious.

She was outside Widowmaker's room, discussing with doctor Ziegler about _why is she here? Why are you helping her?_ And she got it, because one shot from her rifle had taken her most precious person like a word from Talon took

 _Gérard_

from Amélie.

Of course, she had apparently (thankfully, Amélie breathed in) one of those contracts.

Because Ana Amari was sitting at her bedside, drinking tea.

What an infuriating sight.

"How's Gabriel doing?", Ana asked.

"Fine enough".

"How are _you_ doing?"

"Ask Ziegler, I wouldn't know".

Ana regarded her with her only eye and Widowmaker couldn't stop the feeling of accomplishment at her handiwork nor the admiration, the woman she once had as a personal goal was too stubborn to be stopped by the lack on an eye. If Ana Amari could get over that, Amélie Lacroix could get over everything.

"We are here to take Angela with us, her work will help many with Overwatch's support".

"The same Overwatch that has no support whatsoever".

"She's refused to move from here so far, at first we thought it had to do with the same reluctance she had a decade ago. Now I see it's because of you".

"So it seems".

Amari's smile failed to unnerve her. Widowmaker still had the upper hand at poker faces.

"So", Ana said after a moment of silence, "it has been decided that you should come with us too".

"By whom?"

"I'd like to say 'me, two minutes ago' but we both know that this was Gabriel's thing, not mine".

"What makes you think I'd even think about it?"

"Oh, I know you've already accepted".

"Hmm, one condition. If you will".

"Yes?"

"Get Aleksandra Zaryanova on your side and I'll go in my best behavior".

"You have a deal, Widowmaker".

"My friends call me Amélie, you may call me Lacroix".


	16. bonding over missing family

"So, _vaquero_ ", Sombra said over their comms, knowing both Reyes and McCree could hear her, "how did you do it?"

While Sombra was two countries away, Reyes and McCree were infiltrating Vishkar. They had managed to in habilitate a couple of high-ranking guards to get their uniforms (and Jesse had taken a candid picture of Gabriel in clothes two entire sizes too little for his ass, hilarious. At least the helmets were a good fit).

"Did what?"

"Escaped Overwatch".

"Walked out the door and just kept walking".

Reyes _honest-to-god_ snorted.

" _En serio_. Also, there should be a terminal three rooms to the left".

"¡ _Te lo juro_!" McCree exclaimed, and Reyes muttered _stay on the mission_ or something along those lines that went completely ignored. The Reaper did not fear defeat, for he could and would outlive any enemy, but being discovered while following the trail of the Red Eyes (or whatever those that had discovered Sombra dared to call themselves) was a risk he preferred not to take.

McCree kept talking against anyone's better judgement, though. "I mean, I had to knock ol' Jack out to get past him but besides that, there's not much to tell".

What.

"What".

"Oooh, _soy toda oídos con eso_ ".

"Yeah, I think he tried to have a 'moment' with me", McCree said, shuddering, "God almighty".

"What kind of 'moment'?" Reyes insisted, ignoring himself. What a lost cause.

"Well..."

 _I was wrong, Jess- McCree. About many things, but specially about you._

 _A lil' too late for that._

 _Allow me to disagree, the fact that you're here has to count for something._

 _Is that so?_

 _Yes, I should have been with Reyes back then, supporting you. Should have been with him, period. Anyways, I'm glad you're ba-_

"... And then I smacked right in the head before he could start to get all soft with me".

"Real smooth, McCree", Sombra said laughing, "real smooth".

"What would you have me do?" he complained, "Sit there and hear his 'I'm proud of you, son' American-hero diatribe? Even _I'm_ too old for that horseshit".

"I'm proud of you, 'for what's worth'", Reyes finally admitted after all his years, "Of you all".

Silence embraced them as they worked, both Sombra and McCree too surprised to process the confession. It was not until the duo found the intel Sombra needed and they were on their way back to the nearest safe house that McCree brought back the issue.

"I always knew you cared, even if you said little".

"That's... good to know".

"Couldda talked more, to all of us".

"What's done is done, Jesse".

" _Me van a hacer llorar_ ", Sombra said.

"He still misses you", Jesse insisted.

"And he'll keep missing me. What's done. Is. Done. And we're done", Gabriel lied. As disgusted as he was with himself and his current state, keeping completely detached from Jack Morrison was impossible.


	17. jade-colored glasses

He did not like the idea of leaving Amélie alone. Alone and surrounded by what he could have considered enemies, by what considered them their enemies.

Gabriel sighed.

It had been a long time since the last time he worried that much. It was even harder ti hide it, but overall unnecessary, as he could see when Sombra bit her nails whenever she stressed herself over Amélie's almost daily reports. ATHENA was a flawed AI, an admirable effort but flawed nonetheless, so they could keep in touch with her.

Jesse had laughed over tales of Oxton trying to spy on her, had worried for the younger and newer operatives and had looked downright bashful when the name Shimada appeared on screen.

 _Huh._

To the surprise of no one, Fareeha was the only one (besides Lena) to act hostile towards Amélie. The rest kept their distance unless they were Ana and insisted on sharing a cup of tea. Amélie never failed to reject the invitations nor to surpass most best scored.

Memories of his many, many years working with them flowed. A mess of colors and sounds that he fought daily to give them some semblance of order. He was getting better at that, remembering. Gabriel Reyes had been a medium height _abuela's_ boy that had plans for a scholarship in film school thanks to his dexterity at 'the court'. Gabriel Reyes had been the kind of _boy_ , the kind of man _,_ to think that if someone wanted something done right, the they better do it themselves, so he went and stopped the Omnic Crisis with his own two hands.

Gabriel Reyes had been in love with John 'Jack' Morrison. Had been loved by him. Had died for him, had lost him and had started a war against the world for him even when his name had been a mystery to himself.

Gabriel sighed.

Most of Amélie's short reports ended with an _Aleksandra sends her regards_ , which made Sombra wiggle her eyebrows every time they read them.

Still, he worried. There was no trust left for Angela Ziegler but neither was there any space for doubts of her ability. He had wanted to be with her during her treatment though.

Not much longer, Gabriel promised.


	18. dom com

Jesse McCree had decided, many nights ago, that life was like a boomerang.

It came as it went around, ending where it once started.

So it was logical to end up along Reyes, only the two of them fighting the system in the shadows.

"Ey, vaquero", Sombra said, "change the channel, put some good shit"

Talking about shadows...

"Tarantino is the goodest shit, excuse you", Jesse said wondering why did she change it herself with her magitek fingers, "besides, Gabriel loves Tarantido".

"Damn straight", Gabriel snorted from his side of the couch. The man was massive and took he most space on it, so Sombra sat sideways on his lap and Jesse used his _not-anyone's-boss-anymore_ 's arm to support his back. They were comfortable and useful, as Gabriel needed anchoring more often than not those days where stress would make him unconsciously dissipate.

"As straight as you?", Sombra asked Gabriel.

"Hopefully not, or it be a perfect circle".

Jesse McCree laughed, not wondering why he left in the first place but why hadn't life got them back together sooner. He then remembered the man waiting for him, the one with eyes sharp as his with dragons swimming on skin.

He would go back to him too.

 _What is he like_ , had asked Gabriel the night before, too tired to avoid his own curiosity talking for him.

 _He's... Something else. We talk about everything and nothing and he's cute as a button._

 _How are things with, you know... Genji._

 _Getting better, it was his idea in the first place. You could learn about that, forgiveness._

 _What for? There's no need for Jack's._

 _Won't agree to that ever but, then, you could start with yourself._

A cheap shot, because he was just repeating what Reyes has told him when he got him out of Deadlock by force.

But things came back around, they always did.


	19. woman scorned

Amélie was to be sent on a mission, under Soldier: 76's command.

She cringed.

If she had to listen at him barking _Lacroix_ again, she would put a bullet between his eyes.

With one last message to Sombra indicating her future position, she started packing what little she had with her. There were two things that needed to be done before she could consider leaving for good.

First, she had sneaked into the old Blackwatch rooms to acquire a simple flashdrive kept safe under three different locks and a password that hadn't been changed in decades (it's Jack's birthday, Jesse McCree texted her, Amélie did not respond).

And second, Zaryanova.

No words were needed for the other woman to understand they would not see each other for a while (because against all odds, Amélie planned to maintain contact with her), and as such, they shared a see you later in the form of spending one last night with each other breathing the other's air. Amélie left her room while Aleksandra slept, leaving her comm under the pillows.

She would not miss Overwatch, at all.

Maybe the archer's sake, drank with another kindred spirit that had stolen a loved one's life with their own hands. There wasn't much to speak about with the older Shimada but his company had been welcome whenever it happened. And while she would not miss Ziegler exactly, the doctor appreciated not being left alone with most members of the 'Watch, her reasons unknown even to her lover that complained about the murderer's constant presence.

Head held high, she sat besides the soldier in the aircraft and prepared for deployment.

"I've got you in my sights, Lacroix. Don't try anything funny", Morrison said with a raspy voice.

Amélie smiled, "wouldn't dream of it, _sunshine_ ".

Jack Morrison felt cold creeping up his back, taken aback by the petname only someone else knew.

Holding such power over the man pleased Amélie. While she had her own interest, she was a very territorial woman that held some sort of claim over those he considered hers. Gabriel Reyes being one of them, and as much as she knew that keeping him for herself was impossible (and unnecessary, she had her own distraction now), it did not mean she couldn't have some fun in the meantime.

Besides, she swore she heard Ana Amari laughing some seats away.


	20. call-backs and bookends

Gabriel Reyes had been a simple and sad man with a not so simple but really, really sad life.

But, you see, after Reyes forgot and remembered how to be Reyes again, he found himself living a not so simple but neither sad life. Because there he was, wearing the skin of the Reaper but feeling the heart of a man that beat for a family he chose.

Standing tall with the man with the ridiculous hat and the woman with ridiculous nails expecting the woman with a skin color that used to be ridiculous but wasn't anymore. The life that played out before his very eyes was the life he chose to live how he remembered choosing.

No envy ran through his veins anymore, neither did anger. Only, believe it or not, love.

Gabriel Reyes was not a gentle man, but he was a good one. He believed in a greater good that justified his means, because his means kept his loved ones safe.

Those means led Amélie to recover a part of herself she thought long gone, but there she was, breathing, bleeding, smiling. Sombra jumped into her arms, their hug a long and warm one, not less significant than the short but firm Gabriel gave her. Even Jesse shook her hand and winked at her with a smile.

"We need to leave", said Amélie, "before somebody important notices I'm gone for good".

A rasp.

Soldier: 76 aimed at them with his rifle.

"A little too late for that", he said.

"Please, I said someone important", Amélie answered dismissing the man with a gesture of her hand, "now, _allez-allez_ ". She pushed Jesse and Sombra with her, the latter leaving her translocator in Gabriel's hand.

"Four minutes", she mouthed before leaving with the other two.

And then he was alone with him. Soldier: 76.

Jack.

 _Kill him make him pay_

No. No need.

 _kill him make him pay_

No. No want.

 _i love you gabe-_

Ah. Of course. Because _I love you too, Jack_. And even though he should have told him so much more, that was neither the time nor the place.

They looked at each other, the rifle lowered. The soldier's stance was firm, too firm, and Gabriel's too casual with his shoulders down, a weird contrast with the white mask he used. He walked.

Jack had been a complete fool back then, never doubting Gabriel when they were young (should have stayed that way, should have been reciprocated, doubt had no place between them), and not doubting him there and then. When Gabriel got close enough, he reached for his hand.

Jack took it.

"It doesn't add up".

"What doesn't?"

"Anything. Everything you're doing". Jack let go of the rifle and it fell to the floor loudly, just lower Gabriel's hood with his other hand. "You... you're letting your hair grow again?"

"Forgot to cut it".

"Keep it, looks nice", he said playing with the curls. Gabriel almost purred. "What are you planning? I want in".

No.

"No".

"You let McCree in".

"You let McCree _out_ ".

"Gabe-"

"Don't 'Gabe' me, Morrison. Just... I need time and, if you want to help, I need you inside".

"Always so bossy even when asking for that..." Jack trailed of, lowering his hand until reaching Gabriel's hip and pulling him closer.

"Oh my _god_ , Jack".

They laughed. It was nice, it was nicer than nice. He had missed this, they both had.

"Let me help you for once, Gabriel, stop pushing me away".

"You'll be safer this way". Safer, happier. Jack, and the world, deserved better than some half-dead lab monster. "Besides, I really need people I can trust there. I want to trust you".

"Fine, be that way. How will we get in contact?", Jack asked, actually wanting to know when would they see each other again.

"You'll know. Soon enough".

"It's been years, Reyes. _Years_ ".

"Then a couple of days will be nothing. I gotta go".

"Be safe, you asshole. Don't you dare dying on me again".

"Don't you dare keep using this jacket with these pants, _cariño_ ".

Jack moaned.

Neither one tried to take each other's mask off and any moment, and said their goodbyes in a low and bittersweet tone. When they parted, Gabriel clutching the translocator in between his finger, they never looked back.

(Hours later, Gabriel Reyes would realize Jack Morrison had sneaked one of his biotic emitters into his coat).

They had tomorrow to look forward to.


End file.
